Altered Perceptions
by Jedi-lover
Summary: L/M AU fic Mara finds a different way to defeat her Sith nephew.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **_I do not own Star Wars. If I did I would be erasing Jar Jar frame-by-frame from Episode I & II and replace him with Ryan Reynolds wearing a speedo._

_I do want to say I have taken bits and pieces from the profic novels for this fanfic. Sometimes part of a scene is copied verbatim and then my dialog is added and sometimes the scene only has some of the dialog the same. I have included scenes from books such as: The Last Command, Vector Prime, I, Jedi, Invincible and (shudders) Children of the Jedi…just to name a few._

_I just don't want people thinking I am stealing…which I am, but I don't want you to think I am stealing and taking credit for the scenes. Basically if you find a brilliantly written scene in this fanfic…it is taken from a professional novel. If you read babbling incoherent sentences…that is most likely my original work._

* * *

_**Altered Perceptions **_

_Subtitle—how to make the EU a better place in 20,000 words or less._

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

Jacen Solo, hero of the Vong war, Jedi Knight, and nephew to Grand Master Luke Skywalker was now a following the path of a Sith. Mara Jade Skywalker had absolutely no doubt of that. She was also certain that he needed to be eliminated or neutralized before he brought the galaxy to war or worse—drag her son Ben down to the depths of depravity that Jacen now appeared to embrace.

Mara tried to save her nephew. Han and Leia deserved that much. They already lost one son, the death of another would devastate the Solo family…especially if it was at the hands of a family member. Although Mara did not want to lose the element of surprise, she had to try to get Jacen back on the right path. Therefore, she sought him out and offered him the chance to go to the Jedi temple to get help—to be deprogrammed in a way. He wouldn't be the first Jedi to turn to the darkside and he wouldn't be the last.

Jacen of all people should know there was a chance of redemption. His own grandfather had dropped deep into the darkside, but managed to come back to the light. It could be done, but Jacen refused her offer of help.

It probably wouldn't have mattered, Jacen was worse off than even she suspected. Mara could feel the darkness within him. His eyes were not the jaundice yellow of Palpatine, but they were empty and soulless. At that moment, Mara realized the nephew she once knew, the boy who told jokes and loved animals, was gone.

The cause of Jacen's turn to the darkside was unknown, but Mara suspected that Vergere's torture and manipulation of her nephew during the Vong war broke the young man and pointed him down the path of evil.

Jacen Solo was now Sith and therefore, regrettably, he must die.

* * *

Mara returned to her apartment after her disappointing meeting with Jacen. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered Luke was still asleep in bed. She didn't want to face him. If Luke knew the path she was about to embark on he would never let her go.

She went to her desk and pulled out a flimsi and stylus. She paused not knowing what to write to her husband. After a few moments she wrote _'Gone hunting for a few days'. _ She looked at the note and immediately reconsidered her wording. She balled up the flimsi and tossed it in the trash and pulled out a fresh sheet.

'_Gone information hunting for a few days. Don't be mad at me, farmboy…'_

She went over to the bedroom and gave her sleeping husband a gentle kiss on the cheek. He gave a soft grunt, but rolled over and started snoring again. She left the flimsi on the nightstand where he could find it and quietly slipped out of the apartment.

Part of Mara wanted to get into a stealth fighter and chase after Jacen for a final confrontation, but Mara knew better. The years she spent working as the Emperor's Hand and later fighting multiple conflicts as a Jedi Knight and then Master had taught her some hard lessons. Lesson number one is you don't go into a fight without knowing your enemy.

It was time for some tactical and strategic intelligence gathering.

* * *

Mara went back to her ship, _Jade Shadow_, where she could make a holocom call to Tionne Sulusar in private. Tionne was a Jedi Master, historian and archivist and also one of the best researchers Mara had ever met. A few weeks earlier when Mara suspected that something was amiss with Jacen she had made a personal request to Tionne. She asked the historian to attempt to trace Jacen Solo travels during the five years following the Vong War. If Mara was going to go up against her Sith nephew, she needed to know what training he might have gained on his quest for knowledge.

Mara went to her ships communications unit and punched in the contact numbers that would link her to the archivist in Ossus. She then sat back in the pilot seat and waited for the connection to be made. After a few moments a silver haired woman appeared on Mara's viewing screen.

"Tionne," Mara said with a smile, attempting to appear as natural as possible. She didn't want Tionne to become concerned and contact Luke. "I was wondering if you found anything concerning Jacen's travels."

"I found something, but I don't know how much help it will be," Tionne said softly in her usual melodious voice.

"Anything is better than nothing, which is what I have now," Mara remarked.

Tionne picked up a flimsi from her desk and read from the paper. "It appears that Jacen travelled to the Aing-Tii homeworld within the Kathol Rift."

Mara frowned, "That sounds familiar. I think Karrde had mentioned that Jorj Car'das once spent some time with them."

Tionne nodded, "The Aing-Tii are very secretive and live in a very dangerous part of the galaxy, which made research difficult. I can tell you they have a very different view of the Force. They don't have a dark and light mentality. They believe there are all shades of the Force. They also believe the Force is a gift from their Gods. They see the Force as sacred."

"Do they have any special knowledge of the Force that Jacen would be interested in?" Mara asked.

"It is reported that some of the Aing-Tii masters could move objects of any size instantaneously," Tionne reported. "They also are said to be able to flow-walk."

Mara's creased her brow in confusion. "What is flow-walking?"

Tionne put down the flimsi. "Flow-walking is the ability to enter the flow of the Force. When you do this you can move to the past or the future. Of course you would be in a non-corporal form."

Mara's jaw dropped, "Can they change the past or future?"

Tionne shook her head, "Nobody knows for sure. The Aing-Tii believe you can change events in the past, but the flow of the Force will eventually go back to its original path." Tionne cocked her head to the side and gave Mara a questioning look. "Do you think Jacen is flow-walking?"

Mara took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly. She didn't know how much she should tell the Jedi Master. "I don't know, but he is acting strange. I just want to find out what Force training he might have stumbled upon during his journey." That was the truth. Tionne didn't need to know the disturbing details of Jacen's recent behavior.

"Are you planning on going to the Rift," Tionne asked concerned, "It is a very dangerous journey and the Aing-Tii do not like strangers."

Mara chewed on her bottom lip in thought. Going to the Aing-Tii would take more time than she had, but perhaps there was another way. "No, I don't plan on visiting the Rift," Mara replied slowly. She gave Tionne a smile, "Thanks Tionne. I really appreciate your help. Please let me know if you discover anything else."

Tionne smiled in return. "I will let you know right away. It was good talking to you Mara. Please give my regards to Luke."

"Will do," Mara acknowledged. "Mara out." She then flipped the switch turning off the communication connection.

Mara stood up and walked from the cockpit down the length of the ship toward her personal living quarters. _Jade Shadow_ was a Horizon-class Star Yacht that was specially modified with military-grade hyperdrive and shield generators with retractable blaster cannon and concealed concussion missile launchers. But the missiles were not the only thing concealed. Mara had the ship equipped with various hiding places where weapons or other items could be stashed away from sight. Luke knew about them all, save one. This was a storage space she secretly had installed in her cabin shortly after the Vong War.

She entered her cabin and went to her bunk. She then got down on her hands and knees and reached into the storage area under the bed. It was an area to put luggage, but in the bulkhead there was a hidden panel with a voice-activated door. "Jeneth, aurek, dorn, esk ,one, niner, niner," Mara recited the code and the panel silently slid open. Mara reached into the compartment her hands shaking as she retrieved the object within.

She repeated the code again and the panel closed smoothly. Mara scooted out from under the confined space holding a small pyramid shaped object in her hand. The metal objects had various hieroglyphic designs across its surface and at the bottom of the object were the words _In Umbris Potestas Est_. On the other side were inscribed the words, _Darth Sidious_.

It was Palpatine's Sith holocron.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Any feedback would be appreciated. Reviews are always welcome._**

~JL~

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The Sith holocron was a teaching device. Deep within its core was a black crystal used to power and store knowledge. When activated the holocron would show a hologram image of its gatekeeper. Since the name of Darth Sidious appeared on the device Mara could only assume she would see old 'yellow-eyes' upon activation. Once the gatekeeper appeared she would be able to access the information stored within by asking questions to the hologram. Normally only Sith could activate such a device, but Mara knew if a Jedi had enough willpower and strength in the Force they too could access the dark device.

Mara had found the holocron purely by accident during the Vong War. When it became apparent that Coruscant would fall her and a few other Jedi went to the Imperial Palace to destroy documents and digital information that the Galactic Alliance didn't want to fall into enemy hands. When Mara and her small detail of Jedi reached the palace they discovered it had experienced severe structural damage by a Vong bombardment.

Mara worked her way through the various offices of key officials. She would systematically run a KillDisk program on every computer to wipe the drive and then she would plunge her lightsaber into the computer's inwards just to make sure all information was destroyed. She thought using the KillDisk was a waste of time when she could simply slice up the computers, but Intel was adamant that they often could scrounge information off even the most highly damaged hard drives.

Luckily Flimsi files had been phased out of existence in the last decade, making her job a lot easier. She was glad she didn't need to burn documents inside a building or take the time to shred them.

Eventually she found herself in a room that decades prior served as Palpatine's private library. All of Palpatine's original documents were packed up and sent to NR intel decades ago; the room was now used as a private library for one of the senior senators.

Mara did a memory wipe on any functional computers and completely destroyed any computer not functioning. She was about to leave when she noticed a wall partially knocked down exposing a small alcove that was once hidden within the recess of the wall. It was a secret compartment probably used by Palpatine. Inside Mara discovered a cache of datachips, flimsy blueprints, but she also found a lightsaber and the Sith holocron.

Mara turned over the datachips and blueprints to GA intelligence and the lightsaber to the Jedi Temple, but she kept the holocron. She knew she should destroy it, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. There was a chance, albeit a very remote chance, that in its memory crystal there was information on her background such as where she came from and the identity of her family. Originally it didn't bother her not knowing about her past, but after Luke discovered the identity of his mother in the memory system of R2D2 the curiosity concerning her family returned.

She could have given the holocron to the temple, but she didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands. She knew its power. She didn't want any Jedi tempted by the sinister powers that lay within. Luke, as strong as he was, had already had fallen to the darkside on Byss, Mara didn't want any Jedi swayed by its power and knowledge. She had seen what the dark side of the Force did to Palpatine and that was a fate she didn't wish on anybody.

She decided to keep it hidden away, waiting for the day she was powerful enough in the Force not to be tempted by its evil and comfortable enough to face her old master and make him answer her questions.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this, but time is running out," she said to herself and she steeled herself for what lay ahead.

Mara pressed the recessed button at the bottom of the holocron and placed it on the cabin floor. At first nothing happened and she thought perhaps it was damaged by the Vong assault. Eventually the device started to glow and Mara could feel a familiar dark ripple in the Force. A holographic projection suddenly coalesced into a grainy image of her old Master, Emperor Palpatine.

The holographic image looked at Mara and frowned. "Why does the Emperor's Hand call on me? Where is my apprentice Vader?"

Mara shuddered at the sight of the Sith Lord. She forgot how caustic and grating his voice was, but at least the hologram was devoid of the old man smell that lingered around the aged emperor while he was alive.

"Vader is dead. I possess the holocron. I need answers that perhaps you can provide."

The holographic image smiled. It was a smile that reminded Mara of a sand panther's—that is if the sand panther suffered from poor oral hygiene and gingivitis.

"What knowledge does my Hand wish to know," the dreadful image inquired.

"I want to know if you have knowledge of Aing-Tii Flow walking?"

Palpatine scoffed, "The Aing-Tii have only an elementary understanding of that Force ability."

Mara's eyebrows went up. "You have better information?"

"Of course," Palpatine said in smug voice.

"Teach me how to Flow-walk," Mara commanded.

* * *

It only took Mara a few hours to grasp the basics of flow-walking. She didn't have enough time to become an expert and she also didn't want to spend one second longer listening to Palpatine's voice droning on about the power of the darkside. Mara found out what she needed to know and deactivated the device. It wasn't until she safely stashed it in its hideaway that she felt the malevolent oppressiveness subside. She wasn't sure how a hologram could exude the feeling of darkness, but it did.

It had been decades since Mara felt the Force presence of the Emperor. When she was younger she never noticed how repulsive and stomach-churning the darkside of the Force could be. She assumed that she had become accustomed to the Emperor's presence over the years, similar to a person living next to a foul smelling chemical plant eventually stops smelling the odor.

She looked at the chrono; Luke was probably looking for her already. She needed to hurry. She intended on flow-walking back a few weeks, spy on Jacen and find out what he has been planning and what he is capable of doing. Then she would prepare to face him again. The next time they met only one of them would come out alive.

* * *

Mara lay down in her bunk on the _Shadow_, she didn't know exactly what would happen to her body when she flow-walked so she thought it best to be in a position where she wouldn't topple over and bang her head.

She thought over the instructions given to her by the holocron. She needed to get into a deep meditative state and picture her force essence entering into the flow of the Force. She had to visualize where she wanted to go and hold onto that thought.

Mara sank deeper and deeper into the Force, her mind concentrating on Jacen. As she finally slipped into the flow her mind wandered to Luke and hoped he wouldn't be too upset over what she was doing.

* * *

Mara came out of her meditative state slowly. The first thing she was aware of is she was no longer on the _Shadow_. The air was warm and damp and smelled of exotic plants. She blinked her eyes adjusting to the light coming through a window.

'_A window? Where am I?'_ she thought.

She was sitting in a chair. She felt a weight on her lap and noticed a small blaster lying there. It was a blaster she owned years ago. Something was wrong. She couldn't be flow-walking…she was supposed to be a ghost like apparition in the past. But she could feel her body. She looked down at her hand and squeezed it into a fist feeling the sensation of flesh. The only thing she couldn't sense was the Force itself.

She looked around the small room and suddenly froze in shock. There, lying in a small bed, clothed in an orange flight suit was Luke. Mara slowly rose out of her chair placing the blaster on her seat. She walked over to him and looked down at his sleeping form.

'_Stang, he is so young!_' she thought tenderly.

She quickly went to the window to confirm her suspicions. Outside was a thick forest that she immediately recognized…Myrkr, she was on Myrkr. She had flowed way too far back in time and was now in the room where Karrde and his crew concealed a stunned and then drugged Jedi Knight. Mara remembered volunteering to guard him. She had wanted to be the first face he saw and hopefully, later on, the last face he saw before she took his life.

She had flow-walked back in time and right into her own body!

'_This possibility was never mentioned by Palpatine!'_

Mara wondered if she made an error in the technique or if Palpatine gave her incorrect instructions on purpose. Her greatest worry right now was trying to figure out if anything she did differently would affect her future. The Aing-Tii believed any changes in the past wouldn't affect the future in any perceptible way…but Palpatine said the Aing-Tii only had a rudimentary understanding of Flow-walking. Could she be doing a more advanced form of the technique? Could her actions now affect her future?

'_Fierfek!_' she swore silently. She only wanted to spy on Jacen, not change anything in the past. She was going to have to remember exactly what she said and did until she can get to a Ysalamiri free area of the compound so she could go back into a Flow-walking trance. She remembered there were a few areas in the middle of Karrde's compound where she could feel the Force. She needed to get to there as soon as possible. She turned to go to the door, but then hesitated. If Luke woke up and she was not in the room would that alter their future? She wasn't sure. She would have to wait until she brought Luke to Karrde and then shuffled her future husband back to his room. Then she would have some time to locate the area of the compound where she could touch the Force and then hopefully get out of this time frame and back home.

She went back to Luke lying silently on his back, his chest slowly rising and falling, deep in a drug induced slumber.

'_At least he's not snoring,_' Mara thought with a smile remembering how her husband's snoring increased through the years. She stood over him admiring his face. It was devoid of the fine wrinkles and laugh lines he developed over the decades. Mara still saw her middle-aged husband as extremely handsome and sexy, but this young Luke was stunning. How come she never saw him that way? She knew it was because of _The Last Command_. She cursed Palpatine for that. All those years she could have been in Luke's arms…wasted. What was she thinking?

She ran her finger over Luke's cheek and touched his lips. He didn't move. His body was still trying to overcome the effects of the drugs Karrde had pumped into him. Mara looked over to the door to make sure it was locked. She then bent down and brushed her lips softly over Luke's.

"I love you Farmboy," she said softly.

Luke groaned and Mara jumped away from him quickly and rushed back to her chair. She put the blaster back into her lap and frantically tried to remember what the hell she said to him thirty years ago.

Luke's breathing changed and Mara could see he was now conscious and looking out the window, no doubt wondering how the frack a bunch of smugglers could capture a Jedi.

'_What did I say to him?'_ Mara thought frantically. It took a few seconds but finally the words came to her.

"Finally awake are you?" she said. She cringed when the sentence came out sounding rehearsed and completely lacking the contemptuous tone she knew she must have used the first time around.

Luke jumped in the bed, obviously startled that he was not able to sense her presence. A small smile crossed Mara's face, '_he is so cute when surprised,'_ she thought amused, but pushed away those feelings so she could give Luke the remainder of her little speech.

"Don't like it, do you," she asked trying to sound derisive. "It isn't fun losing everything that made you special." Those probably weren't the exact words, but it was close enough.

'_He didn't lose everything that made him special,'_ Mara thought warmly_. 'He still has those beautiful blue eyes, that compact muscular body…'_ Mara's eyes roamed down Luke's body until it focused to just below his belt. '_and other special things,'_ she thought with a smile.

'_Fierfek! Focus!'_ Mara chastised herself mentally.

Luke slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed until they touched the floor. Mara couldn't help feeling bad for him, she knew the drugs did a number on his body and the loss of his Force sense would be a shock to his system.

"Umm.." Mara grasped for the right words. "I hope you are not getting up to impress me?"

'_Because you are most impressive in bed,'_ Mara thought and then immediately reprimanded herself for wanting to grab him up in her arms and kiss him. '_Thank the stars he can't sense my emotions through the Force_,' she thought relieved that she had some leeway.

"Nothing so devious," Luke said as he tried to catch his breath. "The purpose of his activity is to get me back on my feet." Luke looked straight at her giving her a hard gaze. _'Stang he is gorgeous when he gives me that intimidating Jedi Master look,'_ Mara snickered mentally.

"Don't tell me; Let me guess. You're Mara Jade." Luke said.

Mara resisted the urge to correct him. She is Mara Jade Skywalker…or at least would be one day…unless she was now totally screwing up the timeline.

"You got that right Farmboy," the words came out of her mouth before she could censor herself. _'Stang, I hope I don't get back to my time and find out I screwed up everything and I'm now married to Corran!_' Mara thought in a panic.

"What did you call me?" Luke asked confused.

It was time to cut her losses and get on with the show. "Karrde wants to see you, on your feet!" she ordered her prisoner. "And don't try anything...or I'll shoot you right here!" She hoped that came off sounding halfway serious. She knew there was no way she could ever hurt him. "Move! Karrde's waiting."

* * *

Mara marched Luke at blaster point through the barracks across the courtyard and to the large central building. They entered the structure and went through a large door to the area Karrde referred to as the 'great room'. There sat Karrde under a large tree growing from a hole in the floor. Two large pet Vornskrs flanked the smuggler. Mara had to smile; Karrde looked almost as young as Luke. It brought back a flood of emotions, both good and bad. She owed so much to these two men. She wished things weren't so complicated in the past.

She motioned for Luke to go up to her boss. Karrde began discussing with Luke what should be done with him. As the conversation dragged on the Vornskrs got antsy so Karrde had Chin take them away. With the guard animals gone Mara made her way to stand next to her old smuggler boss. It gave the pretense that she was acting as a bodyguard, but she really just wanted to gaze at Luke some more. She found herself entranced by the young Jedi. She felt such a sense of longing. She wanted more than ever to get back to her time to be with Luke and Ben.

She wished she did so many things different after they returned from Wayland. She remembered when they were on to Coruscant and Luke gave her his father's lightsaber. She should have kissed him. She wondered what a difference that would have made in her life.

"Mara?" Karrde said looking a little confused at her inattentiveness. Mara blushed realizing she totally zoned out during the two men's entire conversation.

"Sorry," Mara said flustered as she motioned to Luke with her blaster. "Let's go."

On the way back to the room Luke made an attempt to start a conversation with his captor.

"Did I miss dinner?"

Mara rolled her eyes, '_There's that Skywalker appetite.' _Mara shook her head slightly_. _"Don't worry, we'll bring you something to eat."

"Thank you," Luke said sincerely. He looked over to her with a questioning look. "Why do you dislike me so much?"

Mara resisted the urge to start a discussion with him. It was too risky. "Shut up! Just shut up," She said impatiently. She wanted to get him back to the room and then find a quiet place where she could will herself back to the future.

She pushed him into his impromptu prison cell. "The window has an alarm on it. If you try to escape it will be a toss-up on who will get you first the Vornskrs or me!" Before he could say another word she quickly closed the door and locked it. She leaned against the wall and gave a sigh. She then quickly moved to the center of the compound and down to the basement where the storage rooms were located. If she remembered correctly there was an area in one of the storage rooms where the effects of the ysalamiri could not be felt.

Mara entered the storage pantry and turned on the lights. The walls were lined with shelves full of dehydrated foodstuffs. Mara went to the corner of the room and sat down on the floor with her back against a shelf stocked with grain. She didn't know what the current Mara would remember when the future Mara went back to her time. Hopefully she wouldn't remember all the suggestive thoughts she had been thinking about Luke or else the Mara of this time would probably shoot him outright. On the other hand, if Myrkr Mara had a total memory loss, how would she handle that? There was also the possibility that the current Mara may have viewed her own body moving around almost like an out of body experience. She wasn't sure which option would be best.

"I guess I'll know soon enough," she said as she closed her eyes and thought about returning to her own time. After seeing Luke so young and irresistible all she wanted to do is be back in his arms again. She just hoped what she did here today didn't irrevocably change her future.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Mara slowly awakened from her trance-like state. She found herself in bed in a semi-dark room; the only light came from the moon and stars shining through a huge transparasteel window. In the distance she could barely discern an imposing mountain range—its silhouette making a jagged line across the horizon.

Mara could feel a warm nude body pressing against her back and the movement of another person's breathing.

Anxiety coursed through her body. If she changed anything in her past she might not have married Luke and that thought terrified her. She could find herself now in bed with a stranger…or worse a friend. If she woke up with Corran, Karrde or, Force forbid, someone like Kyp or Streen, she was sure she would run out of the room screaming. Mara hesitantly reached out with the Force to ascertain the identity of her bedfellow. She blew out a sigh of relief when she realized it was Luke.

She slowly turned to look at her husband. She had mixed feelings about what she saw in the dim light. It was Luke, but a much younger Luke. He was not as young as when they met on Myrkr—but he was a good two decades younger than the future Luke she left in their apartment on Coruscant prior to embarking on this strange journey. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time…again.

Mara quietly got out of bed and tried to figure out where they were. She immediately felt chilled once away from Luke's warm muscular body. Mara looked down and realized why. She was clothed in a sheer mesh and lace camisole—one she remembered buying not long after her wedding. The lingerie wasn't made for warmth; it was made to seduce.

She looked around the room. In the dim light she could make out some chairs, a small loveseat and at the center of the room was a long dresser. On top of the dresser Mara could see the outline of a vase with a cut flower arrangement and she could smell the familiar scent of Dew-Sparkled Velanie Flowers. Mara smiled knowingly…she was in a room overlooking the Karrish Mountain Range. Luke brought her here on their second honeymoon. She remembered it was the most perfect two days of her life.

Her sweet Farmboy spared no expense and thought of every way he could spoil her on that happy occasion. It was a time prior to the Vong War, before the death of Chewie and Anakin, and long before all that creepiness with the Killiks. It was a good time for Mara and Luke. If she had her way she would stay here forever, making love, drinking Garwillian champagne and eating air cake. But she knew she couldn't, she came on this mission to stop Jacen and to protect Ben.

She walked over to the bed and climbed back in. Gazing at Luke's handsome young face she shifted closer to him and gently placed her lips over his. She fully intended on slipping back to the flow of the Force and try to get back to 40 ABY—the time when she started her flow-walking. That was her plan, but when her lips touched his, Luke woke immediately and returned her kiss with a passion. They kissed and caressed each other until she couldn't stand it any longer. She pulled her lips away from his, "Make love to me Luke," she said huskily. The Jedi smiled and eagerly complied.

'_The Force-Flow can wait,"_ she thought and then gasped at Luke's ministrations. _'The Force can definitely wait._'

* * *

After a few hours of passionate lovemaking Mara lay exhausted in bed. Luke was lying next to her snoring softly, a satisfied smile on his face. Mara took the time to think about her Flow-walking experiences so far. She thought back about her second stint on Myrkr to see if she could figure out if her memories had changed. To her surprise, she had two sets of memories. The original recollections and another similar set of memories in which she remembered waking up in a storage closet confused, disorientated and wondering what in the worlds possessed her to kiss the man she wanted to kill.

It appeared that once she leaves this body, her old self will remember making love to Luke but won't remember any thoughts the future Mara experienced. '_Good,'_ she thought. '_That makes things a little easier; we wouldn't want my past self to think she's gone crazy.'_

She knew she needed to figure out if her Flow-Walking was affecting the future since she appeared unable to pinpoint her designation with any accuracy. She just hoped her next flow-walk didn't drop her into the middle of the Vong War or worse.

'_I need to figure out if I am changing things,'_ was the last thing she thought before she dropped back into the flow.

* * *

"Do you want stew or glymph pie?" an elderly woman wearing a hairnet asked Mara in a raspy voice.

Mara blinked her eyes, reorienting herself to her surroundings. She was up at a serving line in a dining hall. She looked around quickly and recognized it as the Jedi Academy dining facility on Yavin IV.

"Gymph pie or stew?" the woman repeated impatiently.

"Umm, I'll take the stew," Mara replied. The older woman placed a bowl of steaming liquid on Mara's tray along with a bread wafer.

"Thank you," Mara said as she turned and looked down the long room full of polished tables and hungry Jedi students. She wasn't sure what era she landed in, perhaps if she recognized some of the Jedi apprentices she could figure out what part of the timeline she had flow-walked into.

She strode through the dining hall looking for a familiar face and finally she found one.

"Frack!" Mara swore softly. A couple tables down sitting alone was a sandy-haired woman Mara wished she would never have to see again…Callista Ming. Mara was shocked, not only at the sight of Luke's old lover, but at the strong emotions the sight of Callista evoked in her. Mara was filled with revulsion and anger. This was the Force reanimated cadaver that broke Luke's heart and had him scouring the galaxy for her for years. Mara really, really disliked the woman, almost to the point of hating her.

She must not have been shielding very well because a number of Jedi students looked up at Mara startled or with questioning looks. She smiled and shielded her emotions before every Jedi, including Luke, sensed her annoyance.

'Well, at least I know '_when_' I am,' Mara thought sarcastically. It was approximately 12 years after the battle of Yavin. She had come to the Academy to give Luke some information about the Hutts. That was the time she came very close to revealing to the Jedi her true feelings for him…close, but not quite. She did tell him she came out in person because she sometimes liked to see him_. 'I sometimes liked to see him.'_ How pathetic was that?

'_You were an idiot back then_,' Mara mused to herself. She should have just gone for it, laid her sabbac cards out on the table and told Luke what she felt for him, but she didn't. _'An idiot!_' she repeated to herself silently.

She realized she was standing in the middle of the dining hall looking lost. She might as well get this over with. Mara walked over to the table where Callista was sitting and stood across from her. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked the former old order Jedi.

Callista looked up from her food and nodded for Mara to join her. Mara sat and started to eat the stew, taking the bread and dipping it into the liquid and plopping it into her mouth. Mara grimaced at the taste. The academy was never known for its fine cuisine. "I guess they don't have a gourmet cooking droids working here, but I guess it is better than dry rations." Mara remarked trying to remember what she said to Callista almost three decades ago.

"So you are Skywalker's new lady," Mara said almost gagging on the words.

Callista gave Mara a measured look. "Yes, I am. You must be Mara Jade. I heard about you."

Mara nodded. The fair-haired woman raised her eyebrows a bit. "I also heard hints that you might have been interested in Luke yourself at one time."

Mara gave her a thin smile. She was fighting a tremendous urge to strangle this woman. Mara knew it was irrational, but, after remembering being married to Luke for over two decades, the realization that this woman would be in bed with Mara's future husband tonight filled her with loathing. It was like sitting down to lunch with 'the other woman'. Totally irrational thinking, but Mara couldn't help it. She was just glad Callista couldn't read her emotions through the Force or she would be running for the hills right about now.

"Interested in Luke?" Mara laughed. In the past she denied, denied, denied, but she really wanted to get a reaction from this woman. "What woman wouldn't be interested in the Jedi Master? He's handsome, charming and has a butt to die for."

Callista's jaw dropped.

Mara realized she really should leave before Callista made a scene. "Well good to meet you," Mara lied as she stood up and swiftly proceeded to leave the dining facility. Mara was almost out the door when she bumped into Luke.

"Mara," Luke said concerned. "I felt a spike of emotion from you earlier, are you alright."

Mara smiled. "Everything is fine Luke. I have to go, but I just want to say I will miss you." She felt Luke's astonishment through the Force when she leaned in and gave him a friendly hug and an almost platonic kiss on his cheek—a kiss that almost touched his lips. At that same moment she dropped her shields ever so slightly and allowed Luke to feel her desire for him. She backed away from him and smiled then turned to leave. "Bye Luke," Mara said as she seductively ran her tongue over her lower lip.

Luke looked like he was having trouble breathing and his eyes were wide with astonishment.

As Mara walked out the door she stole a glance back down the dining hall and saw a very irate and flustered bodysnatching former Jedi storming toward the Jedi Master.

As Mara quickly headed back to her ship she knew that Luke would remember that kiss, especially if he got an earful from Callista. If she flowed forward into the future she would ask him if he remembered their first kiss. If he said Yavin IV then Mara knew she was changing the timeline and she would have to be very careful in her travels. If he said Nirauan, then there were no worries.

She chuckled to herself. "After feeling a Force-enhanced kiss, having sex with his Force-void girlfriend is going to feel like he is Kriffing a blow-up doll."

She would go back to her ship and get back to flow-walking.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to those readers who have taken the time to drop me a note or write a review. It is much appreciated. If you are not following the current Star Wars novels, you may not understand some of this chapter. PM me if you have any questions.**

**~JL~**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

Mara dropped out of the Flow of the Force and into her body. She found herself in a large dark building, which appeared to be some type of industrial complex. She looked down at her hands and realized she was holding her blaster and a glow rod. There were other people around her, their faces illuminated by the soft radiance of their lights: Tahiri, Danni Quee, 'Face' Loran and Baljos Arnjak. They were all wearing simulated Yuuzhan Vong crab armor. Mara remembered going on a mission with them and Luke. They were in the underbelly of Coruscant to find Lord Nyax.

_'This is the last place I wanted to end up,' _Mara thought. She looked around, but didn't see Luke only a large slimy retaining pool in the middle of the structure. A small smile graced her face as she remembered this moment. Luke was swimming in the city's devourer tank used to break down organic matter from the sewer system. Since the tank wasn't hooked up to the pumping system the group determined it was a façade with the organic decomposers acting as guards preventing access to something submerged below.

Suddenly a loud rumbling startled everybody as the room began to vibrate. The chamber reverberated and shifted as a large metallic and stone plug rose from the front of the tank. Luke resurfaced from the tank with a splash. He stood waist deep in the pool for a moment before he slowly trudged over to the edge of the reservoir.

The small group looked at the rising structure in wonder. "What did you do?"

Luke pulled off his breathing mask. "I turned a wheel. Something obviously still has power." He went to move out of the tank, but Mara stopped him. "Before you step out of the tank," Mara laughed, "you might want to make sure you're presentable."

Luke glanced down finally noticing his chest was completely bare. Mara chuckled as he reached under the surface of the slime and blushed when he obviously realized he was completely nude. He gave her an abashed look, "I guess I forgot to tell the stuff, _'my clothes aren't food either._' "

"I guess you did," Mara said with a grin.

"Could you pass me my pack?"

"Sure, Luke," she went over and picked up his backpack, rummaging through it as she moved back to her husband. She pulled out a black clingsuit and handed it to Luke.

He gave her a shy look. "Can you stand between me and Danni and Tahiri?"

Mara smiled as she looked back at the two females. "Danni is a doctor, isn't she? I'm sure she's seen it all."

Luke gave Mara an exasperated glare. "Mara, she is a doctor in astrophysicist."

She laughed, "You're right Farmboy, she wouldn't need a telescope to see what you're hiding." She moved so she blocked the view of Luke from the two women. "What about the guys?" Mara asked. "I would hate if you gave Face Loran a bad case of lightsaber envy."

"Funny," Luke said as he climbed out of the tank. The microorganisms dropped completely away from his body as he exited the pool. Mara helped him into his body suit. "Watch that zipper," she warned her husband. "That suit isn't made for somebody going 'commando'."

He turned around and smiled at his wife and gave her a brief, but rousing kiss. "Even during a war, you have to tease me."

"Of course," she said as he retrieved his fake crab armor and assisted him in putting it back on. "Luke," she said softly, "do you remember the first time we kissed?"

He cocked his head and gave her a confused look, "Sure, it was on Nirauan, why?"

Mara sighed in relief. The timeline was safe!

"That is if you don't count that kiss you gave me at the Jedi Academy," Luke continued. "But, I always assumed you did that just to peeve off Callista." He laughed.

Mara stood in shock. She _was_changing the timeline. So far she didn't appear to do any damage, but she needed to get back to 40 ABY immediately before she made a mistake that would totally screw up her future.

Luke frowned, "What is it Mara?"

She shook her head, "It's nothing. Let's get back to work." Mara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If she remembered correctly she had a long day ahead before they took a break and she could get back to the flow of the Force.

_'Stang, I need to get back to 40 ABY,'_she thought anxiously.

* * *

After a long arduous day in the lower level of the city the group finally paused to rest. Mara sat down with her back to the wall and quickly went into a meditative state dropping back into the Force current.

When she came out of the flow Mara immediately felt different. She looked down at her hands and was shocked to realize she could see through them. She had not transferred back into her body, but was in non-corporal form. This was what she expected when she started to flow-walk, but why was this happening now?

She looked around and realized she was in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She was relieved to see it appeared as she remembered it—before she started flow-walking. Perhaps she was back to her time and she simply needed to find the Shadow and get back into her body.

She saw a group of Jedi at one end of the courtyard. Mara was startled when she heard the loud voice of Saba Sebatyne, the Barabel Jedi Master ring out.

"We have come to this sacred place to say farewell to our dear friend, to a fierce warrior and a noble dispenser of justice. Mara Jade Skywalker…"

Saba continued talking, but Mara heard no more…she walked toward the group and caught her first glimpse of the funeral pyre. There she saw her body, lying prone, swaddled in white Aeien silk only her face expose. Luke stood next to the pyre looking down at her body. He had his Jedi robes on with his hood pulled far up over his head, but Mara could see the deep bags under his eyes and the mask of anguish he was trying to conceal. Behind her husband was her son Ben. Ben wasn't fairing much better. He was trying to maintain control, but everybody in the courtyard had to sense the sorrow and pain emanating from the boy. Mara's heart was breaking, not because she was dead, but because of the anguish she was now witnessing. Nobody should have to see their family's heartbreak at his or her own funeral.

There was a slight commotion as Jacen Solo arrived to her funeral late. He gave an excuse that sounded contrived to Mara. After talking to Tenal Ka and Kenth Hammer her nephew worked his way up to the pyre to stand next to Luke and Ben.

Mara moved forward so she could see and hear what was happening better. Luke had his hand on Jacen's shoulder. "I'm glad. It's time we healed this rift between us. I think that must be what she's telling us."

Jacen appeared confused at his uncle's remarks. When his gazed returned to his aunt's body Jacen took a startled half-step back as her remains begin to glow and become translucent. Mara Jade Skywalker was becoming one with the Force.

Mara then saw something completely unexpected. From her fading body the spirit of Mara Jade Skywalker sat up from the pyre and drifted over to Ben and Luke joining them as they regarded her fading body. Flow-walking Mara looked to her Force spirit, then to Luke and Ben and then to all in attendance. Nobody reacted to the appearance of Mara's life-force. Obviously she was the only person able to see the apparition. The spirit looked up and locked eyes with Mara and smiled. A ghostly hand reached out and crooked a finger toward Mara beckoning her to come forward. Mara hesitated for a moment, but then flow-walked toward the now empty pyre.

Luke continued to talk to his nephew. "She waited until we were together," he said. "I think there's a message in that, don't you?"

The Force-ghost nodded eagerly with a smug look on her face.

"I think that must be exactly what Mara is telling us." Jacen said, "We can't save the Alliance without working together."

The Force-ghost scowled at Jacen, shaking her head.

"Good point," Luke said. "I'll try to remember that this time."

At that point the spirit threw up her hands in frustration and disgust. Obviously Luke did not get her message correctly. The Force-ghost turned and walked away from the pyre, making an obscene gesture to Jacen as she passed him.

The specter came forward until she stood in front of Mara. The spirit's mouth moved, but no sound came forth.

"I can't hear you, can you hear me." Mara asked.

The apparition nodded and then motioned for her to follow.

Mara followed the Force presence out of the courtyard. As they moved away from the temple they were surrounded by a white mist, which swirled and thickened until Mara had a hard time keeping track of her guide. Finally the fog thinned and she found herself in a dark dank room with soot smeared metallic walls. The only light came from what appeared to be the red glow of a furnace. Upon further inspection Mara realized she was on a starship's incinerator where rubbish was burned.

Close to the mouth of the incinerator she could see a body on a gurney. Mara's brow furrowed. Bodies should never be disposed of in a garbage incinerator! Most people wouldn't even do that to their pets, let alone a human. She walked over to the gurney and gazed upon the face of the hapless body. She immediately recognized the once handsome features of Prince Isolder, father to Queen Tenal Ka. His face was swollen and purple either from a beating or natural decomposition. His head was bent to the side in an unnatural position…it was obvious his neck had been snapped violently.

As she turned away she heard a commotion at the end of the large room. It was the very familiar snap-hiss of lightsabers in combat. As she moved toward the noise she could see the flashes of a red and purple blade as they clashed together. When she saw who was wielding the weapons, Mara felt sick. There, Jaina Solo—the Sword of the Jedi—was in a death struggle with her twin brother. Jacen looked battered and bloodied with one arm and leg injured and breathing harshly. He stumbled, letting his guard down for only for a second, but long enough for his sister to make the killing blow.

Jacen's legs buckled as he slowly sank down to the floor. He was dead before his body landed fully on the deck. Jaina deactivated her saber and cried out mournfully. She fell to her knees next to Jacen, pulling her brother toward her and cradling his head in her lap as she rocked back and forth sobbing.

Mara couldn't watch anymore. She closed her eyes and turned away. When she opened them she found her Force spirit looking at her sadly.

"Jacen, he killed me, didn't he?" Mara asked.

The life-force nodded.

Mara walked away wanting to put distance between her and the horrific scene she just witnessed. "I can see why I would rush to face him," Mara explained. "Jaina was my former apprentice and my niece. She should never have been sent to kill him. Even if he was Sith, he was her brother, he was her twin; this will forever haunt her."

The spirit did not reply, but simply motioned Mara to follow her once more. They entered the strange white mist that suddenly coalesced within the room. Mara wasn't sure how long they walked within the mysterious fog. Time did not seem to exist within the mist. When they finally exited they were in a rock-strewn meadow covered with moss and crisscrossed with streams that gurgled and flowed into a large dark lake with a translucent vapor swirling over its surface. Mara's guide walked directly into the lake. When she was waist deep, she turned to see if she was being followed. Seeing Mara at the shore the spirit beckoned for her to continue.

At first Mara was apprehensive about diving into an unknown lake, but now that she wasn't in physical form she didn't see what harm it would do. After a moment of uncertainty she walked into the water and continued to follow her spirit guide. Mara expected to feel the chill of the water or the panic for air, but she felt nothing. As they walked to the bottom of the lake Mara looked up and saw the brilliant blue sunlight sparkling over the surface of the water. There were rock upshots rising from the bottom of the lake forming a broken bridge across the water creating a path of stepping stones from one shore to the other. Mara saw a shadow fall over the water and then another. There was more than one person hopping from rock to rock on the surface of the water.

The spirit reached out a slender semi-transparent hand to Mara. She grasped the offered hand and together they drifted closer and closer to the surface. When they were only a few meters from the surface they stopped. The apparition indicated for Mara to stay where she was.

"Mara?" a familiar voice called from above. Mara was shocked at the sound of her husband's voice. She looked up and saw him peering into the waters. She tried to swim up toward him, but she remained in place. The spirit drifted upwards towards the surface becoming more and more solid until she was floating on top of the water in full bodily form.

"Skywalker," the spirit replied.

Mara was shocked to hear the Force apparition speaking to Luke. She was now in full physical form, perhaps that is why she can be heard. Mara still didn't understand why the apparition could hear her while flow-walking, but the ways of the Force were often a mystery.

"What are you doing here?" the spirit asked.

Mara listened intently as Luke told Mara's spirit about his hunt for somebody named Abeloth. Then their conversation took a shocking turn.

"It meant so much to me to see you in the dreams—to be able to roll over and touch you right before I wake up," Luke said, his voice filled with emotion.

"Luke," the spirit said softly.

"And even when I am awake, I feel you with me. You even talk to me." Luke continued.

"Luke," the spirit said a little more sternly and the Jedi went silent.

"Whoever you were with on the_ Jade Shadow_…it wasn't me."

The rest of the conversation barely registered with Mara. All she could think about was who or what was lying in bed with her husband! Some entity was caressing Luke's mind and body and making him think it was her!

She didn't know if she had any powers in this realm, but she was going to kick some Force-apparition butt when she found out who's been messing with her man!

The spirit floated down from the surface becoming more translucent as she did. When she was next to Mara she moved in the direction they had come until they exited the water and returned to the meadow.

Mara turned to the spirit. "I know you can't talk to me in this form, but you can hear me. Please show me who has been spooning my husband at night so I can kill her."

The specter smiled and started walking away from the lake through the rocky valley until a fog suddenly formed around her. Mara quickly hurried after her before she disappeared from sight. They walked in the mist for a short time until they arrived at the ruins of an old courtyard, overgrown with vegetation and covered with moss.

Luke and a group of people Mara didn't recognize bolted out of a tunnel near the base of a mountain and headed to the ruins, making their way to a fountain at the center of the courtyard.

Luke activated his saber calling for the mysterious Abeloth.

Mara's spirit guide pointed to a figure standing near the fountain.

"Luke," the figure said as she moved toward the Jedi.

Mara reeled in surprise and disgust. There in the courtyard stood Callista Ming! Callista smiled at Luke as she walked closer to him. "You've come for me. You've finally come for me. I knew you would. All this time, I had faith."

Mara turned to her spirit apparition. "No, no, oh hell no!" Mara spat out in anger. She went to grab her lightsaber, but realized it wasn't there. If it were possible she would take off Callista's head right there and then.

Mara went to move toward them, but the fog began to rise, obscuring Luke and his former lover.

"Wait, don't send me back now," Mara begged the spirit. The Force apparition shook her head sadly and gestured for Mara to follow.

"You mean to say that that kriffing sleemo bodysnatching piece of Mradhe Muck has been Force molesting my man and now is trying to get him back?" Mara yelled. "Shavit, how long was I dead before she tried to seduce Luke? Was my body even cold before she made her move? I should have known that Force reanimated skidcrust would come for Luke as soon as I was out of the picture."

The spirit regarded Mara with a dispassionate expression, which infuriated for former assassin even further. "Why aren't you furious? He was your husband also."

The figure shrugged, putting her palms up in a 'what can I do?' gesture.

"All this time that I have been flow-walking I have been desperately trying to make sure I didn't change the timeline and for what? Are you actually saying I am trying to preserve THIS future? A future where Jacen turns Sith, murders me and has to be killed by his own sister? A future where my husband has to raise a son alone and a slag-sucking, bodysnatching bimbo is chasing after him? Isn't it bad enough that we suffered through the Vong War?"

The spirit simply stood and stared impassively.

"Snoigit! I need to get back!" Mara said with determination. "I don't give a womp rat's arse if I screw up the entire timeline when I do. I really have no clue as to how the last 40 years could get much worse! Fierfek! Chewie died, Anakin died, trillions of casualties throughout the galaxy…war after war, and death after death." Mara ran her hand over her face in frustration. "I can change the timeline while flow-walking, I am going to stop all this!"

The spirit's unemotional mask faltered and became a wide grin, as if encouraging her to do exactly that.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Mara closed her eyes and concentrated. She visualized herself back in the _Shadow, _sitting in her cabin in front of the Sith Holocron. As she moved out of the flow she could feel the physical sensation coming back to her arms and legs. Mara smiled. No matter where she was she was back to the land of the living. She slowly opened her eyes and then jumped back in surprise. There standing over her was Emperor Palpatine.

It only took a few seconds for her to realize she was looking at a holoprojection.

"Sith!" she swore.

"Yes, I am," the holoprojection replied.

"What?" Mara asked.

The projection gave her a strange look. "You wish to know about the Sith. Let me tell you about the power of the darkside."

"Stop," Mara said while holding up her hand. "If the darkside was so great I would think it would have a better dental plan."

"What?" Palpatine's projection muttered as he brought his hand up to his decaying teeth in a self-conscious manner.

"Never mind, I want to know something different," Mara said. "What do you know about an entity named Abeloth?"

Palpatine sneered. "Abeloth is the name of one of my Hands. She was strong in the Force and grew stronger every day. She desired to be more than a Hand, but a true Sith. She deluded herself in thinking she could overthrow me and rule the galaxy…she was wrong. I discovered her plan and made arrangements for her elimination."

Mara was taken aback by the knowledge that Abeloth was another of the Emperor's Hands.

"How did you kill her?"

"My child, it would be a great waste of talent to simply kill her," Palpatine gave her a vile smile that made Mara shudder in revulsion. "I discovered another use for her that removed any chance of her usurping my power. I used Ssi-ruuk entechment technology to trap her Force essence in one of my greatest creations: The _Eye of Palpatine!_" The Emperor shouted the name of the station forcefully as he balled his fists up over his head for dramatic effect.

Mara rolled her eyes over his theatrics.

"There she would spend an eternity within the operating systems of the battle station forced to do my bidding." The emperor glared down at Mara. "When she was hooked up to the entechment rig she experienced exquisite pain as her life-force was dragged from her body. I was told that agony would remain as long as she stayed in the Eye of Palpatine. But the pain was the least of her worries. There is no greater horror than for a consciousness to be trapped in a device. It is worse than any solitary confinement. After a decade I'm afraid she became quite mad." The Emperor cackled with pleasure.

Mara felt like the wind was knocked out of her. If Abeloth was trapped in the Eye of Palpatine then how did she get off before it was destroyed? Unless, it wasn't Callista the Force spirit of an Old Republic Jedi that occupied Cray's body, but Abeloth instead. Perhaps Callista the Jedi never existed…or if she did exist her persona was being used by Abeloth to convince Luke to help her. Mara now wondered if Cray actually volunteered her body.

Now everything made sense. Callista could only touch the darkside of the Force because she wasn't Callista, Jedi Knight, but Abeloth an insane darksider. She didn't want Luke to sense her deception so she made herself small in the Force, just like Ben learned from Jacen. That was the reason she appeared as void in the Force-it was the only way she could deceive a Jedi Master. In the few times that her disguise had faltered she made up an excuse that she could only touch the Darkside. She probably stayed with Luke just long enough to learn his secrets and then she took off so she could work on her plan for galactic domination.

'_What is it with Luke kriffing the Emperor's Hands?'_ Mara wondered. _'This makes three that I know of.' _

Mara shuddered at the thought of Luke sleeping night after night with an insane darkforce 'thing'.

'_Well it's not going to happen if I have anything to do about it!_' she thought with conviction.

Mara scowled at Palpatine. "I need more information," she demanded.

"What knowledge do you seek," the hologram asked.

"I need override and self destruct codes!"

* * *

Mara turned off the Sith holocron and put it back in its hiding place on the _Shadow._ She was getting better at arriving at the proper time and location it seemed. When she ended up at the funeral she probably overshot getting back to the Shadow probably by a week or two. Her last flow was right on the mark. To get to the proper place in the past she needed to remember where she was at a particular date. She went to her small cabin desk and picked up her datapad and did a quick history search.

"Where was I in 11 ABY?" she muttered to herself. Then she remembered. How could she forget? Luke was almost killed by Exar Kun and Corran stole her Headhunter. Not the best of years, but it is better to be early than late. Mara tossed the datapad into her desk drawer and went back to her bunk. She laid down and tried to relax. She concentrated on when and where she wanted to flow. She was thinking of Corran as her Force essence slipped into the time stream.

* * *

"I know, but at least I have a place to start," said a familiar male voice as Mara came out of the flow.

"What?" she said somewhat disorientated.

Corran Horn gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay Mara? Calrissian hasn't slipped any narco-spice in your drinks has he?" He gave her a wink that let her know he was joking.

"No," she paused collecting her thoughts. She looked down at her clothing and blanched. She was wearing Lando's clothing!

'_What the…'_ she thought with a start, but then the memories came rushing back to her.

Lando flew her to the _Errant Venture_ so she could find Corran and ship he 'borrowed' from her. What a mess he made of her Headhunter. The only reason she wasn't mad was he mangled it saving Luke's butt and that was one cute backside worth the price of a Z-95 Headhunter…hell it was worth the price of the _Fire_.

Calrissian offered to buy Mara a change of clothing while on the _Venture_, but only purchased her revealing outfits he wanted to see her in. In retaliation she raided his closet. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but that probably is what fueled Luke's jealous suspicions about her and the gambler.

"Mara!" Corran said loudly startling her out of her musings. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Mara said. "Listen Corran, I know you will find Mirax." She hesitated for a moment, "I need to ditch Calrissian for a short while and go run some errands, do you think Booster will lend me a shuttle since his son-in-law tore up my ship?"

Horn furrowed his brow, "Sure, what's up? Is it a new mission? Something I should know about?"

"No, its personal," Mara said in a way that closed the subject.

Corran shrugged. "When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible. I just need to buy a few things and make a couple calls and I can be on my way."

"I'll talk to Booster now," Corran promised. "You should be out of here within the next hour or so.

* * *

Mara waited until Lando was out gambling before she took off in an old GPE-7300 space transport provided by Booster Terrik. It was a model popular with smugglers and pirates. She suspected Booster acquired the vessel from an unfortunate gambler who didn't know when to fold his sabbac cards.

Mara punched in the jump coordinates and activated the hyperdrive. The stars streaked across the cockpit window as she dropped into hyperspace.

"Next stop Pzob," she said to herself. She hoped she could pull this off.

* * *

"There it is," Mara said to herself when she dropped out of hyperspace near the planet Pzob. The blue-green planet hung low in the cockpit window. Around the planet were various asteroids floating in a loose orbit around the planet.

Mara looked over her instrument controls until she found what she was looking for. She looked out the transparasteel window and maneuvered her shuttle closer to her intended destination—a large ashen colored asteroid. She double-checked her sensors to make sure she was in the right place. It looked like an asteroid but her instruments picked up large amounts of metal and electronics located within the round structure. She had found the _Eye of Palpatine_.

Quickly, before the battle station could fire upon her she punched in the memorized override codes given to her by the Sith Holocron's Palpatine. It took her a couple attempts but finally she received a response from the station.

•** The Will recognizes authorization codes. **

Mara typed in **Menu**.

A long list of authorized actions scrolled across her screen. She first stopped at Weapons Systems and put them off line. Next she clicked on the Evacuation Notification part of the menu. She went to Fleet Communications and typed in:

**[Urgent and Priority One: All pilots report to shuttle bays and prep for ship evacuation. All ship crew report to any functional shuttlecraft and evacuate to the planet surface. Repeat: All personnel report to shuttle bays for evacuation. All pilots will serve as commanders of their vessels and personnel on board.]**

Mara then pressed the evacuation alert button. She couldn't hear or see any activity on the dreadnaught, but she hoped this was working.

•** The Will requests clarification concerning purpose for personnel evacuation.**

Mara was going to ignore the message, but knowing The Will was actually Abeloth the person who took over Cray's body, slept with Luke, and later was Force caressing her man on the Jade Shadow made Mara furious.

**[Purpose is to evacuation crew prior to destruction of battle station]**

•** The Will requests that the station remain operational to complete its mission**.

Mara scoffed, "Yeah, I bet you do."

**[Battle station mission has been terminated] **Mara wrote back**.**

There was a pause.

•** Are you a Jedi? I can sense the Force. I am a former Jedi trapped within the computer systems of this battle station. Please do not destroy the ship until I can find a way to exit the mainframe system.**

Mara had a smug smile on her face. She figured a former Emperor's Hand would use lies and deception to save her life…that is what she would do if the situation were reversed.

Mara typed in:

**[Who are you?]**

•** Callista.**

Mara shuddered. It took will power not to push the destruct button then and there.

**[You mean Abeloth, don't you? What happened to Callista?]**

Mara was waiting for a denial, but it didn't come.

•** I have direct orders from Emperor Palpatine to complete my mission, cease and desist your actions!**

**[First tell me what happened to Callista, Emperor's Hand! Tell me and I will spare the station for another mission]** Mara typed.

There was another long pause.

**[You say you can sense the Force. You know I am telling the truth] **Mara typed trying to persuade The Will to tell her more—to confirm Mara's suspicions.

She thought it wasn't going to answer but then something started scrolling across the screen.

•** Callista and her companion sabotaged some of the ship's programming. Both Jedi were eliminated. Callista attempted to meld with the computer system upon her death, but the results only lasted a few days before her consciousness died. **

Even though Mara suspected this, seeing the truth scroll across the screen stole the air out of her lungs. Luke was never dating an old world Jedi, just a darksider who acquired Callista's memories after a failed meld with the computer systems.

A very strange feeling overcame Mara, a feeling she never thought she would ever possess. She actually felt bad for the real Callista and a little bit ashamed for thinking such disparaging thoughts about the woman. Callista, the old order Jedi, was a hero. She sacrificed herself in an attempt to end Palpatine's rule. She intended to meld with the computer system to render it harmless, but she failed and the end result was Abeloth stealing her memories and using them to trick Luke.

•** Did Emperor Palpatine order you to take control of the Battle Station?**

**[Palpatine is dead]** Mara typed as she plugged in a datachip into her communications system and started transmitting information over to the _Eye of Palpatine._

•** What are you doing? You said you would not destroy the **_**Eye of Palpatine.**_

Mara smiled.

**[I'm not going to destroy the battle station. I'm reformatting the computer systems. It will purge the sentience programming called The Will and update it with modern programming that will be controlled by me]**

•** You must stop. I must complete my…**

The screen suddenly went blank.

"Bye-bye Abeloth." Mara said as the reformat transmission was complete. She hoped that the reprogramming ended the entechment of Abeloth. If not, it would be done when she destroyed the _Eye_. But she wasn't going to do that right away. She could use the battle station in the future.

The computer screen started to flicker as the new programing came on line. Mara got to work on programing a new destination for the battle station. Luckily the dreadnaught had hyperdrive capability. That would come in handy since she had to program in various jumps to get it to Helska IV. Not that there was any hurry it had at least a decade to get it there.

.

.

.

Mara returned the borrowed shuttle to the _Errant Venture_ then went back to the quarters assigned to her. Fortunately she didn't see Lando or Corran on the way back her room. She didn't want to explain where she had been the last few days.

She settled down in her bunk and stared at the cabin ceiling deep in thought. She wasn't sure if what she was doing was right or not. She was sure that once she slips back into the Force-flow the Mara of this era is going to be wondering what in the blue blazes is going on. The Mara of yesteryear will remember going to the _Eye_ of Palpatine and remember everything she did. She will remember sending the _Eye_ to Helska IV, although she won't know why.

Mara blew out a deep breath in frustration. She had to keep things from deteriorating into a major carbon flush. She thought about it for a while, considering all her options. Eventually she rolled out of her bunk and went to retrieve her datapad out of her luggage. She went to the small desk in the cabin and set the device down, adjusting the built-in holocam to focus on her features. She pushed the record button.

"Hello, Mara," she said in a recording to herself. "First of all, you are not going crazy, and this is not a holofake. In order to prove this is being recorded by the real Mara Jade Sk…" she caught herself almost giving out her married name. "…Mara Jade the Former Emperor's Hand I will use the Imperial Authorization code given to me by the Emperor himself: Sabre Dawn 88 Ember Light 6331."

Mara looked to the ceiling in thought. What could she say that would make sense to the Mara Jade of 12 ABY about the new memories she would wake up to? She could lie, but Mara knew she was very good at ferreting out deception. The best bet was to tell the truth, but only put in the details needed at this time.

"You are probably wondering why you flew to Pzob…" Mara continued, hoping she didn't mess up her future too much.

After she made her recording she pushed the secure button so only the owner of the datapad could read the contents. She then found a flimsi and wrote herself a note telling her to access the message on the datapad…while alone.

She hoped this helped as she lay back down on the bunk and entered a meditative trance concentrating on a specific time and place. Soon she felt the familiar feeling of her slipping out of her body and into the flow of the Force.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Mara woke up in the cockpit of a ship traveling through real space. She looked around and realized it was _Jade's Sabre_. Mara smiled as she ran her hands over the controls of her old vessel. If she timed this right she should be in 24 ABY and she was doing a run for the Jedi Academy. If she remembered correctly she was getting food and school supplies for Luke before she was scheduled to travel to Monor II where she was to act as witness to the Accession of the Sunesi tenth Priest-Prince, Agapos the Tenth. While there she was to act as a bodyguard to a minor diplomat named Nom Anor.

During that fateful mission over a hundred New Republic Diplomats perished from what was then an unknown disease. Mara was also affected and barely survived the ordeal. She shook her head in frustration. Things would have turned out so much different if she back then was able to sense that Nom Anor was a member of the Yuuzhan Vong invading force. For Sith-sake he was a void in the Force, after her interactions with Callista that should have peaked her curiosity about the man and given her some indication that something was wrong.

_'Maybe I can make things right this time,'_she thought.

Mara shifted in the captain's chair so she could access the navigation controls. She deleted the current course and programmed a new destination. She was going to Monor II.

* * *

Mara came out of hyperspace in the Doldur Sector near the Monor System. She had chosen a false transponder code identifying her as a trader of exotic botanicals and medicinal goods. Three years earlier a plant native to Monor II called Ginchi Grass was found to have medicinal properties used to treat impotence in human and Devaronian males. Since then the planet has been overrun by pharmaceutical representatives looking to make a deal. Mara thought she should be able to land on the planet without much scrutiny of the documentation she fabricated in the last hour.

She also had taken advantage of the ship databanks and holonet to download street maps, low-level aerial photos and sewer plans of the location where she knew Nom Anor frequented in the days before the Accession of the Sunesi. She had approximately 5 days before she was originally scheduled to make planet-fall, hopefully it would be enough time to determine a pattern in Nom Anor's behavior.

* * *

For the last two days Mara had been shadowing Nom Anor's activity. At first it was difficult to find him because of the breathing mask off-worlders wore to protect them from the Cirrifog-laden atmosphere of the planet, but eventually she located him. Mara was shocked that an alien who was in deep cover could be so predictable. Each morning he went from his hotel to the kiosk at the corner of the street to purchase a caf. He then would scout out the area where the Accession was going to occur. He then went back to his hotel room where atmospheric adjusters filter out the cirrifog and allowed him to remove his mask so he could enjoy his drink.

Mara needed to find a good hide location for this mission. She went to the kiosk in the afternoon to reconnoiter the area. Across the street were hotels with fixed transparasteel windows, restaurants, department stores, and a large speeder parking lot. Beyond the parking area Mara spotted a building that might work. It was a deserted building that once used to be a Cirrifog mining company. When the export of Cirrifog was banned all the mining businesses went belly up. This company was obviously no different. Its once burnished anvilstone exterior was now pitted and discolored. A few of the transparasteel windows were missing. On the ground below Mara could see the sun reflecting off the remains of the windows after they fell to the street. That location would do.

* * *

Mara returned to the _Sabre_that night, tore off her uncomfortable breathing apparatus and began to pack the necessary supplies. Inside the master cabin she went to the small 'fresher. She went to the sanisteam shower and pushed the steam valve in and to the left, then pulled it out from the shower wall. There was a soft click as a hidden panel on the back of the shower popped open. Inside was an assortment of lethal weapons: vibroblades, holdout blasters, incinerator mines, stun sticks, C10 stun grenades, lightsabers, and the weapon she would need at sunrise—A Blas Tech E-17D sniper rifle with scope.

The sniper rifle was broken down in a non-descript carrying case that she should be able to carry through the town without causing suspicions. She didn't have the time to zero the weapon, but since she zeroed all her weapons twice a year minimum, she hoped the weapon would shoot true.

About an hour before sunrise, she slung the carrying strap over her shoulder, zipped up her dark blue flight suit and left her ship heading toward the abandoned mining building. She needed to set up and be ready in the morning.

* * *

Mara picked a deserted room on the third floor of the old Acme Cirrifog mining building because it faced the Kiosk and it already had a broken window that she could fire through. She pushed an old desk into a position about 10 feet from the window and then stacked a rusting file cabinet on top of the desk to allow her a firing position looking down to the Kiosk. She used industrial tape to secure the curtains closed around the window and then took her vibroblade and cut open a small loophole in the fabric allowing a tiny opening to view the street below. It was through this opening she would fire her weapon. Her location in a darkened room and having her weapon 10 feet from the loophole would greatly minimize the possibility of a blaster flash giving away her position.

She looked at her chrono. She had approximately one standard hour before Nom Anor would make his way to get his morning caf. She had to hurry.

She quickly assembled the sniper rifle and climbed onto of the desk and file cabinet. She set up the weapon adjusting her fields of fire. The angle wasn't quite right and having to aim through her filter mask would make the shot even more difficult. She climbed down and picked up a couple old abandoned manuals and folders and tossed them on top of her sniper position. She climbed back up and positioned the books to stabilize the weapon in the correct position. Once she was satisfied she positioned herself behind the weapon and adjusted the scope, taking aim at the service counter of the tiny café.

She used the Force to calm herself. It had been decades since she acted as an assassin. As the Emperor's Hand she would always have a feeling of anticipation and excitement before taking the shot, now she felt different. She was a Jedi and this felt more like murder. She shook off that thought. The Galaxy was at war…they didn't know it yet, but the Vong had declared war and she was about to prevent trillions of deaths with one blaster shot. If this was of the darkside, then so be it. She would gladly give up her humanity for the galaxy.

She saw movement in front of the hotel as Nom Anor stepped out and walked casually to the corner to get his morning drink. Mara purged her mind of all thoughts but the shot. She focused in with the scope and adjusted her aim. The Vong infiltrator passed the vendor a credit chip and was handed a covered cup of caf. As usual the alien stood at the corner for a moment reconnoitering the area. As he stood in the open he was the perfect target.

Mara made sure she aimed at his head. If he was wearing crab armor a body shot would be a wasted effort.

She aimed, took a breath, slowly let it out, paused and then slowly squeezed the trigger. The sound of the blaster reverberated throughout the empty room. Below she could see Nom Anor's head violently jerk back followed by a spray of black blood covering the clerk behind the counter. The Monorian kiosk worker jumped back in surprise wiping the black blood off his face with his hand. After a second or two the realization of what happened hit him and he ran off in terror. Mara didn't wait to see if she had a kill shot. Either he was dead or not; she couldn't take another volley without risking getting caught.

She jumped off her perch and quickly disassembled the weapon and wiped it down in case she needed to ditch it; she then put it back into her carrying case. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a small incinerator mine. She set the timer for 10 standard minutes and placed it on the floor next to the desk. The mine would burn away any DNA, hair or fingerprints, which could place her at the location.

She gave the room a quick look over to make sure she didn't forget anything and then hastily moved in the direction of her planned escape route. By the time the mine went off she should be back in the _Sabre_. She then had one more stop before she went back to her time and back to her life with her husband and son.

* * *

Mara arrived to her ship with no problem. She stowed away her gear in the 'fresher hideaway and then went to the main galley where she clicked on the holonet to see the news reports.

She flicked through the channels until she found one showing the panicked pedestrians on the street where Nom Anor died.

_'…early reports stated that Nom Anor, newly elected Prime Minister of Rhommamool and leader of the Red Knights of Life, scheduled to witness to the Accession of the Sunesi tenth Priest-Prince, Agapos the Tenth was assassinated by an unknown shooter this morning. There are now conflicting reports coming in: one report indicates the person who died was not a human, but an unknown humanoid species. City police have reported that the victim was wearing some sort of biotechnical mask that appeared to be attached to the decedent's head by cilia clinging to the pores of the alien's face. The creature has been sent to the morgue for autopsy. Police believe the alien's disguise was an attempt infiltrate and possibly disrupt the Accession Ceremony set to take place in two days._

' Also in the news a mysterious fire broke out in the old Acme Cirrifog-Mining company building. Fire investigators have ruled it an arson and an investigation is being conducted to see if insurance fraud might be the motive for the fire.'

Mara turned off the Holo. She hoped that the authorities would be so engrossed with the discovery of a new species and with anything they found in Nom Anor's hotel room that they wouldn't be too concerned about the shooter.

She went to the communications center of the ship. There were various holomessages queued up for review. She looked at the senders and seeing none from Luke she ignored the rest.

She requested a clearance to leave the planet. She expected a long wait and a perfunctory search of her ship after an assassination, but she was immediately cleared.

_'I guess this is my lucky day,'_she thought as she set a course for Helska IV.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Helska IV appeared as a bright white orb in the distance. It was a frozen inhospitable world with no indigenous life. No indigenous life, but there was life on the planet now. Deep within the core of the planet the Praetorite Vong had placed their yammosk a creature used to coordinate battles. It would to be used in the first wave of their invasion of the galaxy. If Mara's memory was correct, Danni Quee and her contingent of scientists would not be arriving to the planet for another day or two. She knew as soon as she traveled closer to the planet the Praetorite Vong would immediately detect her presence. She just hoped the assassination of Nom Anor would not rouse them out of their hiding place and attack the _Sabre_.

She punched in the _Eye of Palpatine_ authorization codes she meticulously memorized from the Sith holocron. Data streamed across her screen. The _Eye of Palpatine_ did make it to the planet and had been lingering in orbit, systems inert for the last ten years—waiting for Mara to activate it. The battle station was on the opposite side of the planet, but she didn't need line-of-sight to communicate with the vessel. She typed in various commands powering up the _Eye_ and firing jets to turn the dreadnaught so the main laser would be facing the planet. She hoped the Vong would be more concerned about the arrival of her ship than the movement of what appeared to be an asteroid caught up of the planet's orbit.

Mara programmed in two commands: One command to fire on the frozen planet below destroying the yommosk and the first wave of the invasionary fleet and the second command to initiate the self-destruct sequence of the _Eye_. Mara wasn't sure if the second set of instructions would work since Luke had once told her that Cray and her companion Nichos had to manually initiate the self destruct sequence due to damage on the station. Mara suspected Abeloth may have said that in order to separate Cray from Luke and allow her to take over the younger Jedi's body.

Mara for a moment wondered if she should turn the station over to the New Republic after destroying Helska IV, but she realized that would open up a whole line of questioning from NR intelligence and also from Luke. She was pretty sure what she was doing would be frowned on by the Jedi Master.

She finished up the preparations and then set a course out of the system where she would be safe from the shock wave.

Mara looked at her chrono as the time seemed to crawl by in an excruciating slow manner. Finally she saw a bright light in the distance followed by an intense explosion. The vacuum of space was silent, but she could feel the _Sabre_ shudder as the shockwave caused by the destruction of the planet hit her ship. Five standard minutes later a second explosion lit up the darkness of space as the _Eye of Palpatine_ detonated.

'_I guess Callista a.k.a. Abeloth was lying about the extensive damage on the Eye of Palpatine,' _Mara thought seeing that the self-destruct sequence appeared to work properly.

She reprogrammed the _Sabre's_ navcomputer to its original destination of Yavin IV. She really didn't care if she missed the Ascension of the Sunesi. In fact it was probably best that she didn't return to Monor II any time soon…just in case the Monor Criminal Investigation Division was better than she suspected.

She put on the autopilot and then went to her cabin. She considered leaving another message for herself, but she figured the Mara of 24 ABY would figure out what was going on. She thought back and tried to separate the new memories created after her excursion to 12 ABY. The thoughts weren't perched at the forefront of her brain; she had to concentrate to remember. It appeared that her past self saw the holomessage and was at first suspicious of what happened, but eventually decided to believe the message and keep quiet about the _Eye's_ presence in the Doldur system.

Mara dropped down into her bunk and concentrated on returning to the _Jade Shadow_ at the time and place she first started flow-walking. Hopefully the horrific events the galaxy endured for the last two decades have been adverted. She was thinking about her family when she dropped into the flow.

* * *

Mara woke up in bed and stretched as her eyes adjusted to the light. The first thing she realized was she was not on the _Shadow_ as she hoped to end up. The bed she was in was not the hard mattress found on most starships. She turned and saw an outline of a man lying on his side, the covers pulled up over his shoulders. Obviously she over or undershot her time frame and she was now in her apartment.

She smiled as she reached over and ran her fingers through her lover's hair; Her hand suddenly stilled. Mara frowned as she felt the texture of the hair. It wasn't the soft straight locks she associated with Luke, but tightly curled hair cropped short to the head.

"Lights!" she shouted urgently. The overhead lights switched on by voice command bathing the unfamiliar room with harsh light.

"What's going on?" the man next to her asked.

"What the kriff are you doing in…" she was about to say 'my room' but she realized she wasn't in her room. "What are you doing in bed with me?" She yelled at the man who definitely was not Luke. Mara quickly jumped out of bed dragging the sheets with her, wrapping them around her body protectively.

Lando Calrissian gave her a confused look. "Why shouldn't I be in bed with my wife?" he asked.

Mara stared at the dark-skinned man in shock. "Wife," she muttered as the blood drained from her face. She started to feel dizzy as she leaned an arm against the wall for support. Lando's face went from confusion to concern. He immediately leaped out of bed and ran towards her to prevent her from collapsing into the nightstand.

Mara looked up and panicked when she saw a completely nude Lando Calrissian running toward her.

"Sith! You're naked!" she screamed.

Lando came by her side and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "So are you," he said with a mischievous smile. Mara looked down in shock. She peeked under the sheet she had wrapped around her as she bolted out of bed.

"Force! Why am I nude."

Lando gave her a broad smile. "Well, it is pretty difficult to do those maneuvers we did last night fully clothed."

"Oh, no, no, no," Mara said distraught. She looked over and saw a 'fresher off of the bedroom and made a dash for the room. She slammed the door and locked it behind her. She went to the sink feeling ill. She turned on the cold water and splashed it on her face.

There was a soft rap at the door. "Mara, are you alright?"

Mara leaned heavily against the sink counter. She felt a bit dizzy from the shock. If she was with Lando that meant Ben was never born. The sudden feeling of loss was overwhelming as tears formed in her eyes.

"Mara?" Lando said again lightly knocking on the door.

"I'm sorry," she said in a shaky voice. "I thought I was going to be sick."

"Mara, do you think you're pregnant?" Lando exclaimed happily. "Did the last in-vitro fertilization work? That would be awesome if you were carrying a little Lando Jr."

Mara's stomach lurched.

'_I did in-vitro fertilization in my late fifties, did I go crazy in this timeline? I would be in my seventies and have a teenager in the house!'_ she thought dazed.

She needed to get back to Luke and Ben and she needed to do it now!

"Mara? Can I come in?"

"No," Mara said quickly. "I need to meditate!"

"In the 'fresher?" Lando asked.

"It's a Jedi thing," she said trying to end the discussion.

She heard Lando laugh. "Since when did you become a Jedi? I thought you said you were never going to return to the Academy. After what Luke did."

Mara's head snapped up suddenly. "What did Luke do?"

"Mara, maybe you should see a medic," Lando said concerned. "You don't sound right."

"Just humor me," Mara said impatiently. "What did Luke do wrong?"

There was a pause on the other side of the door. "I really didn't think Luke did anything wrong, but you said it was completely unprofessional that he started dating and married a young Jedi student."

"What student!" Mara screamed.

"Cray Mingla," Lando said from the other side of the door.

Mara collapsed backwards against the bathroom wall. "Force what did I do wrong?" she whispered to herself. She had to think. How could this happen? She searched her memories. Finally she found the memory timeline that occurred after she took over the _Eye of Palpatine_ over Pzob.

It appears that Luke, Cray and Nichos went to search for the children of the Jedi together, but this time they didn't find the battle station. Instead they found the evac-shuttles from the missing dreadnaught. Luke called for a large passenger rescue shuttle for the survivors. While Nichos was on the Jawa shuttle arranging for their transfer into the rescue ship he suffered a terminal error in his cybernetic brain. By the time Luke and Cray found him the Jawas had cannibalized half his body parts.

The shock was unbearable to Cray and she sought comfort from the Jedi Master. Obviously she needed a lot of comfort because soon they were dating. Mara found out about Luke's new relationship soon after she finished up her undercover mission with Lando. Although Mara of 12 ABY would never have admitted to liking Luke, she was devastated. And, of course, being the young brash person she was back then, she started dating Lando mainly to show Luke she didn't care he was dating Cray. When Cray and Luke finally wed she gave up her pursuit of the Jedi and decided Lando wasn't too bad of a guy. After a decade of on-and-off dating he finally convinced her to marry him.

Mara closed her eyes as these new memories flowed over her. Lando wasn't a bad husband, but she wanted her family…her real family back. She would never stop trying to return to Luke and Ben.

One thing confused her though, if she never married Luke why did she have the _Sabre_ instead of _Jade's Fire_? After concentrating for a more few minutes that particular memory returned to her. She had gone to Nirauan and Luke had come to rescue her, but they both were married to other people at the time. Mara did use the _Jade's Fire_ to assist their escape. Luke, Karrde and Lando combined funds and had purchased the _Jade Sabre_ to replace her lost ship. It was simply a generous gesture on their part, not a wedding present from Luke.

_'Thank the Force I was never able to have kids with Lando,'_ Mara thought. _'That would deeply complicate matters'_. Thinking about it she realized Luke and Cray never were able to have children either. It was almost like the Force knew these pairings weren't meant to be and wouldn't allow children to come from the ill-fated unions.

She needed to make sure Luke married her, not Cray, Callista, Jem, Gaeriel or any other random woman whose path might have intersected with Luke's anywhere in the new timelines.

She needed to get to a time where she could guarantee Luke would become her husband.

She ignored Lando's persistent rapping on the 'fresher door and concentrated on a time and place much earlier. Finally she drifted into the flow.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Mara slowly became conscious of her surroundings as she came out of the Force-flow. The first thing she noticed was a cool breeze across her face and the sounds of a busy city. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She found herself on the Palace roof on Coruscant overlooking Imperial City. The sun was just setting coloring the sky a brilliant orange. This was the Imperial City she remembered from her youth, a bustling metropolis with skyscrapers of every size and shape punctuating the skyline. It was an urban area that stretched from horizon to horizon full of millions upon millions of residents…until the Vong arrived and destroyed the city once called the Jewel of the Galaxy.

"Mara?"

"Over here," she said as she turned to face Luke. He was wearing his usual black pants and tunic, which would usually garner a disapproving remark from Mara, but this time she barely noticed his attire; he was so incredibly young. Mara found herself immediately mesmerized by his face. His blue eyes were bright and full of life, his face was smooth and tanned with a mop of blond hair blowing in all directions in the wind. This was her Luke, this is the man she loved. Mara tried to clamp down on her feelings so not to confuse the Jedi, but she knew her happiness to see Luke leaked out and washed over him.

Luke grinned and came up beside her. "Quite a view, isn't it?"

She remembered she gave him some snarky comment decades ago during this moment, but she just couldn't bring herself to make things hard for him anymore.

"Yes it is," she simply said.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked.

She told him the truth, "I feel wonderful."

Luke gave her an odd expression, as if he expected her to say something else. "So what do you think about the idea of being a liaison between the Smuggler's Alliance and the New Republic?" he asked cautiously.

Mara laughed softly. She remembers arguing against the plan with Luke despite the fact she thought it was a good idea at the time.

"I like the idea of liaising with you," she grinned mischievously.

Luke's eyes widened in surprise and appeared to be at a loss of words. Mara couldn't blame him, what she was saying and about to do was completely out of character for a 9 ABY Mara.

"Was there something else?" she asked.

Luke smiled brightly. "You're getting good at that."

"Your fault for teaching me too well. Come on, what is it?" The words came easily to her, she remembered this time and place all too well. It was burned into her memory because it meant so much to her at the time.

"Just this," Luke reached into his tunic and pulled out a lightsaber.

Mara knew exactly what it was and where it came from, but she continued the dialog. "What's this?"

"It's my old lightsaber," Luke said softly. "The one I lost at Cloud City, and nearly got killed with at Wayland." He held it out to her. "I'd like you to have it."

Somehow reliving this event with the knowledge of what Luke and her would share in the future made the moment even sweeter. She gave him a brilliant smile as she took the weapon. "Thank you, Luke."

"You're welcome." He touched her hand. "I'll be in the conference room with the others when you're ready to come down." He turned to leave but Mara grabbed hold of his hand pulling him back to her. Before he could react she gave him a warm embrace. Luke stood stiff for a moment not knowing what to do, but after a few seconds he hugged her back. Mara relished the moment.

She wasn't sure how far she should take this. If she pushed him too far would he think she was a crazed, wanton woman? Mara thought it would be best to let him make the first real romantic move. Unfortunately, this was her shy Farmboy and she wasn't sure if it would take him ten years and a Force meld before he took the first step toward romance.

Mara was considering making the first move when Luke did something totally unexpected. He kissed her. It was a shy tentative kiss that only lasted a moment, but to Mara it was breathtaking. She had spent decades kissing Luke, but this kiss was different because it _was_ so unexpected. She couldn't believe that just a little encouragement on her part was all it took to put them on the path to romance.

Luke pulled away from her with a hopeful but worried look on his face. "I'm…uhh…I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me," Luke apologized as he tried to step back, but Mara quickly wrapped her arms possessively around his neck.

"Don't apologize," she said. "It felt right."

Luke gave her an astonished look. "It does, doesn't it?" He said excitedly. He obviously felt what she always felt after Nirauan—a strong connection—emotionally, romantically and within the Force.

She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down to her lips. This kiss was not tentative, but hungry and full of passion. They finally broke away from each other looking dazed.

Mara was the first to regain her voice. "It does feel right," she confessed, "I can feel it in the Force, but I also feel it here," she said as she brought her hand to her heart. She didn't know if that was making things a little too sappy, but it was the truth. She needed to make sure this courtship got off the ground, even if she had to spend months making sure her fledging relationship with Luke completely purged any lingering doubt the Mara of 9 ABY would have about the Jedi. It was not exactly a terrible prospect—making passionate love with a young twenty-something Luke Skywalker. It would be like an extended honeymoon, before they even got married.

Luke smiled and kissed her again. When they pulled apart he asked, "Would you like to go out for dinner?"

"Yes, but what about everybody in the conference room waiting for us?"

"I'll Comm my sister and tell her I'll be delayed." He gazed at her tenderly as he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Mara smiled, "Certainly."

* * *

Mara was shocked at the intensity of their romance, with Luke moving much faster than she ever anticipated. After the fourth date he got the gumption up to invite her to his apartment. She ended up staying the night, and the next night…and well, she never really left.

She acted as a go between for the smugglers and the NR for a short time, but she eventually traveled to the Jedi Academy with Luke. She agreed to train as a Jedi if she didn't have to become an official student. The girlfriend of the Jedi Master should merit private lessons.

Mara wasn't sure if what she was doing was going to obliterate all the other changes she made in the timeline during her previous flow-walks, but she hoped when she returned to her time things would be better.

After two months of incredible passion with her blue-eyed farmboy Mara of 40ABY finally decided that her present day doppelganger would be too smitten with Luke to want anything but to spend the rest of her life in his arms. She missed her son. She needed to go back home.

One morning after Luke left for an early morning run she laid quietly in bed and concentrated on returning to the future, back to the _Shadow_ and back to her family.


	9. Chapter 9

**There is one more chapter after this—an epilogue. Thanks for all who have given me feedback. It is much appreciated.**

**~JL~**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9**

* * *

When Mara woke up she found herself in bed, but not on the _Shadow_. She appeared to be in her and Luke's apartment on Coruscant, although it was decorated a bit differently than what she remembered. She rolled over in bed and was relieved to see a blond head peaking out from under the covers. She cautiously pulled down the sheets to reveal the man's face. It was Luke from 40 ABY, but Mara did think he looked a little younger. His hair did not have as much streaks of grey and some of the worry lines that had sprung up on his forehead and at the side of his eyes in recent years were gone. She rolled closer to him and lightly kissed his cheek and neck. Luke remained asleep but she saw a slight smile grace his lips. She gave him another kiss, this one more demanding. Luke woke up and turned his head to lock his lips on her. When they parted Luke smiled warmly.

"That is my favorite way to wake up," he said with a grin.

Mara beamed. "Mine too." She kissed him again this time a little more persistent, wanting to continue on to more pleasurable activities. Luke laughed happily as he pulled away from her. "Mara, I don't think we have time for this, Owen and Aria will be here with the kids soon."

This caught Mara off guard. "Who?" She asked confused. Luke furrowed his brow. "Your son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, you do remember them?" He laughed.

Mara clamped down on her shields so Luke wouldn't sense her confusion. "Of course, I am just a little groggy in the morning." Immediately her thoughts went to Ben. Did she have her son Ben?

"Where's Ben," she asked nonchalantly.

Luke shrugged. "In bed I guess. He was up all night watching some holo-thriller. He'll probably sleep in until noon."

Mara was trying frantically to recall the memory thread that led her to this moment. She had so many diverse recollections that it was hard to separate them without concentrating.

"I think I'll make some caf," Mara said as she got out of bed and wrapped a robe around her. "Do you want some?"

Luke threw the covers off his body and sat up and rubbing his eyes. "Maybe later, I'm going to take a shower." He stood and kissed her and then padded over to the 'fresher.

Mara let out a sigh of relief as she made her way down to the kitchen. She needed some caf, but she also needed time to think. It would take a while to recall all the memories of this lifetime.

As she moved down the hall her attention was caught by a holophoto hanging on the wall. It was a family portrait and a recent one judging by the ages of the people in it. Luke and Mara were standing in the background. Next to them stood a blond man who had a strong resemblance to Luke. In his arms was a blond baby wearing traditional boy clothing. Next to the young man was a beautiful woman who cuddled an infant girl with strawberry blond hair. In the foreground was a couch where Ben was seated. The redheaded teenager had a wide lopsided grin and a mischievous look in his eyes—as if he was thinking of ways to disrupt the portrait sitting. Next to her son was a young woman with bright red hair and piercing green eyes. She was sitting next to a handsome man in a Galactic Alliance Naval Uniform. On his lap was a small boy, no older that two, with reddish brown hair. Everybody was smiling at the camera operator looking like the perfect family.

It took a moment before the reality of the situation hit her. She had three children and by the looks of it she had three grandchildren! She slowly turned toward the kitchen dazed. She definitely needed some caf. As she walked by the family room she saw Ben crashed out on the couch asleep. The holoprojector was still on but at this time of the morning it was showing an infomercial for a new revolutionary girdle guaranteed to take four inches off your waistline. She quietly walked into the room and turned off the device. Ben immediately stirred. Mara could never really understand how making a room quieter would wake up a person, but it did.

He opened a bloodshot eye. "Hi mom," he mumbled as he sat up and stretched.

Although he didn't know it, she had gone months without seeing him and at one point she didn't know if she would ever see her son again. Mara was overwhelmed by emotions. "I'm so happy to see you Ben," Mara almost gushed as she sat down next to the boy and gave him a motherly hug. "I love you so much."

The teenager gave her a strange look. "Mom, don't get all weird and mushy on me. It's not like you didn't see me last night."

Mara gave him one more squeeze and then stood up and went to make the caf, "I know, but you can never tell your son too many times how much you love him."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said sarcastically, but then gave her that patented Skywalker smile that melted her heart.

"So," Mara said as she turned on the caf machine and poured in some water and ground Guato beans, "your brother will be here soon." She tried to sound casual as she frantically tried to remember the details of this life.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Ben moaned. "I hate it when you have to babysit the twins."

'_THINK!'_ Mara urged herself to remember.

Slowly her memories returned. Luke and her immediately started dating after Wayland and within a year they were married. In 14 ABY their son Owen was born. Two years later they had a daughter Jessa. For a while it looked like their family was complete, but a decade later they had a wonderful surprise they named Ben. Owen and Jessa doted on their baby brother although they often accused their parents of spoiling the youngest son.

Mara wondered if that was something instinctive in older parents. They know their time with their child may be limited and if the youngest child waits until he was in his thirty or forties to get married…well you may never live to see your grandchildren…so you spoil your child instead. Of course, Mara had no excuse, she now had three grandchildren she could spoil and often did.

"Have you heard from your sister?" Mara asked casually.

"She called last night to see how you and dad were doing. Her and Captain Davin Tarrk, Academy Grad 36 ABY," he said sarcastically doing his best impersonation of his brother-in-law, "were going to take Darix to an amusement park and wanted to know if I wanted to go."

Mara frowned. "Don't make fun of Davin. The Naval Academy is a difficult school to get into, let alone graduate from."

"I know mom, but he doesn't have to say it after every introduction. That would be like me saying 'Hi I'm Ben Skywalker, Jedi Academy Grad 40 ABY, and Crypt Master Level 28 on Hologame—Sith Warrior III."

Mara had to chuckle. If her memories were correct her son-in-law did have the irritating habit of name-dropping when it came to his academy affiliation. "So are you going?"

"What?" Ben asked. "To the amusement park? Mom, she must think I'm still two. They are going to Leego Land that's for little kids."

Mara smiled, "Well at least she thought of you." She poured herself a cup of caf. "Have you heard from your cousins?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Jacen was complaining about having to neuter the Nexus at the Hapes zoo."

Mara was glad she didn't have any caf in her mouth because she was sure it would be sprayed across the kitchen counter. "What?" she laughed.

"You can't be a veterinarian without having to do some dirty work. I asked him if he uses his lightsaber to lob off their…"

"Ben!" Mara warned her son not to continue.

He just laughed.

Mara thought back to her nephew. He went to the Jedi Academy, but the Vong War never happened so he continued his love for animals by becoming a veterinarian.

'_At least he's not an evil veterinarian,'_ Mara thought jokingly.

Tenal Ka Djo the Queen of Hapes had asked Jacen to come to the royal zoo to work. Eventually they married and had two children: a daughter Allana and a son Jase.

"How about Anakin?" Mara inquired.

Ben shrugged. "I haven't heard much from him since he and Tahiri had kid number six. He's going to have to buy a new airspeeder because his old one only holds seven people."

Mara let out a cleansing breath. This timeline was completely different.

"How about Jaina?"

"What's with the interrogation, Mom?" Ben asked.

"Nothing, I just want to make small talk with my baby boy. So how is Jaina?"

Ben made a face at the baby boy comment, but continued the conversation. "She and Jag never stop kissing. It's gross. I thought the Chiss taught him to not express a lot of emotions! And they are even worse with their kids. I am never going to get married and have kids!"

"Oh please," Mara interjected, "in a year or two I will have to use my lightsaber to keep the girls away from the front door." Mara smiled when Ben blushed. Despite his mother's red hair he looked so much like his father, especially when he was embarrassed.

"We should plan a day when we can all get together as a family," Mara said.

"That sounds good," Luke said as he entered the room. Mara was impressed to see he was wearing dark blue pants and a casual grey tunic instead of all black. That was one victory she never expected to achieve through her flow-walking. Luke's hair was still wet from the shower and he had the smell of the fragrant body rinse he favored. Mara found him irresistible; she walked over and kissed him passionately.

"Uhh, please don't do that!" Ben complained.

Luke teased out the kiss a little longer just to irritate his teenage son. When they broke apart he turned to grin at Ben. "I can't help it, your mother is the love of my life."

Ben rolled his eyes.

Mara brought her hand up to her lips, which still tingled from the kiss. She marveled how Luke at any age could make her feel so good.

"I guess I better get dressed if Owen's going to be here soon," Mara said as she excused herself from the room.

She went back to the Master bedroom and prepared for her shower. As she slipped under the spray of warm water she took the time to contemplate what she had done. It appeared that the current timeline was entirely altered. Apparently she prevented the Vong war, the Callista fiasco, she assumes whatever problems Luke was going to have with Abeloth was now adverted. Jacen was not a Sith, his sister doesn't kill him, Anakin was very much alive. Everything is perfect, which actually surprised her because when she went back to 9 ABY and started changing things she assumed the flow-walking she did in later years might be nullified, but that didn't seem to be the case.

She poured a berry-scented shampoo in her hand and started working it into her scalp and hair.

She was perplexed at how the Force and the timeline worked. She thought back to the day she left Luke at the academy and flow-walked to this future. She expected her previous self to be totally flummoxed by the chain of events of the two previous months, but her memory didn't show any confusion. No confusion at all, which was very strange.

"Oh Force," Mara whispered with a sudden realization. When she left her body in 9 ABY the Mara of that timeline remembered not just what she had done and said for the last two months, but she retained everything the Mara of 40 ABY remembered of the future!

Mara didn't know why this flow was different from all the other flow-walking occurrences, but she suspected the long duration she inhabited the body might have something to do with it. Over time her thoughts and memories seeped into the brain of the younger Mara!

This younger Mara knew what steps to take to destroy Abeloth, Nom Anor and prevent the war and she made sure those same exact steps took place years later.

Mara tried to remember other events that might have changed. She laughed putting her hand over her mouth to muffle her amusement. If her memory is correct her younger self convinced the New Republic to use bunker buster bombs on Byss to take out an Imperial threat. The Emperor Reborn was destroyed without even having to land on the planet.

When she returned to the Jedi Academy she used a small thermal detonator to collapse the tunnels where Exar Kun's spirit was trapped. As far as she knew he was still sulking down in the rubble of the temple, cut off from all contact of the Jedi students.

The treaty between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant was hastened by the New Republic's uncanny ability to predict their every move. It was like somebody could tell the future in the NR intelligence office. In fact, the personnel in the Intel office didn't have a clue as to who their informant was, but the information always checked out. The code name of the spy was _'Red Hand'_. Mara had to chuckled at the moniker she gave herself. She figured using an obvious code name would throw the NR intelligence off her track. After all, if a redheaded former Emperor's Hand was the spy, and she wanted to maintain her anonymity, she would have picked an entirely different code designation. Obviously, it had to be somebody wanting to cast suspicions on Mara Jade Skywalker.

She really didn't care if they figured it out or not. The _'Red Hand'_ was instrumental in preventing the Corellian Insurrection, the Diversity Alliance problems, the Yuuzhan Vong war, the Swarm Wars and the Second Galactic Civil War. And Mara was delighted that the _Red Hand_ made sure she 'accidentally-on purpose' was off her contraception meds the exact time that Ben was conceived in the original timeline.

Mara rinsed out her hair and turned off the water. She wrapped a large towel around her body and a smaller towel around her hair as she stepped out of the 'fresher and into the room she and Luke shared.

Things were very different in this timeline, but far better than the original fate her family faced. If what she did was wrong, then she didn't want to be right.

She dried her hair and quickly got dressed. As she moved to the living area she heard the door buzzer go off. Luke answered the door before she got there.

"Owen, Aria," Luke said brightly as he reached out and gently took his granddaughter out of his son's arms. "How is Kyra today," Luke said in a baby voice universal to new parents and grandparents. He hugged his granddaughter and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. The little girl made a cooing sound and reached up and grabbed Luke's nose in her soft little hand. Luke laughed and actually said "Owwey, ew gop my nose." Which made the little girl break out in a fit of giggles but made Ben moan in embarrassment.

"Come on in," Luke said as he ushered his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren into the apartment.

Owen smiled upon seeing his mother; he walked up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey Mom," he said and then gave her a gentle hug. Normally Mara would be offended that somebody would treat her like Tatooine Glass, but Owen had grown into a Rancor of a man, standing at least five inches taller than his father and with a very muscular build. It appeared that he had inherited his grandfather's height, but his face was the spitting image of Luke with a mop of blond hair and a smile that could melt the heart of any woman. He wore casual trousers and a light color tunic. A lightsaber hanging from his leather utility belt was the only indicator that he was a Jedi.

Owen had dutifully attended the Jedi Academy along with his sister Jessa, but after his trials he opted for a more mundane life of an Information Security Engineer for the Galactic Alliance.

While Owen was still a Jedi Apprentice he met his future wife Aria. She was the daughter of a diplomat who was a great supporter of the Jedi Academy. Aria was a petite brunette with an athletic build and a bubbly personality. They would often run into each other on Coruscant and eventually started dating. Mara was fairly sure Owen's love for Aria was the deciding factor when it came to going to an engineering college and finding a job with regular hours. He was still a Jedi, but more in a reserve status. That was fine with Mara, it meant she got to see her son and grandchildren on a regular basis.

Mara went up to Owen's wife. "Aria, it's wonderful seeing you again. Can I hold my grandson?"

The woman gave Mara a genuine smile. "Thanks, he's getting heavy."

Mara hefted her grandson into her arms. He was getting big. "Hello Raze," Mara cooed at the baby. The love she felt for these babies and her children was overwhelming and genuine. She hadn't felt this good since she first held Ben in her arms years ago in another time and another place.

She looked over to Luke who was now on the couch bouncing Kyra on his knee and looking happier than Mara had seen him in a very, very long time.

Yes, things were different, extremely different, but they were so much better.

'_I'm finally home,'_ she thought.

Everything was perfect now.


	10. Epilogue

**This is the last chapter of this story. If you enjoyed this fanfic I would love to hear from you. Reviews are always welcome!**

**~JL~**

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**Epilogue: One Year Later. **

**Skywalker/Solo Family Reunion,**

**Varykino, Naboo.**

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Mara sat on the terrace of the Varykino Island Villa Retreat overlooking a beautiful pristine lake. The lake was calm as the sun slowly set in the distance turning the water a crimson red. It was a breathtaking view.

"There you are," Luke said as he walked up behind his wife. "I was wondering where you have gotten off to."

Mara turned to her husband and smiled. "I needed to get away from the commotion if only for a moment." She said apologetically. "Anyway, I didn't want to miss the sunset."

Luke grinned as he pulled up a patio chair next to her.

"You mean being around three children, three grandchildren, two nephews, a niece and ten great-nieces and nephews is a little too stressful for a Jedi Master?" Luke joked.

Mara laughed, "You forgot Leia, Han, a son-in-law who announces he is an academy grad to the waiters, a daughter-in-law, Tahiri, Jag, Tenal Ka and her entourage of guards and aides, Chewie and his family, C3PO, R2D2 and I am pretty sure I saw a couple Noghri creeping around in the shadows."

Luke chuckled then sat back and watched the sunset. "I guess it could be a bit much for us old timers."

Mara gave him a hard look. "Watch it, Farmboy."

Luke laughed again then turned and gave his wife a serious look. "Mara, did you ever think it would end up like this? I mean look how we started out, the son of Vader and the Emperor's Hand. It's amazing that we fell in love, became Jedi and now are now parents and grandparents."

Mara nodded. "It couldn't have turned out better if I planned it myself." She gave a short laugh.

"Did you hear Tahiri is pregnant again?" Luke asked.

"Oh Force!" Mara groaned. "Anakin just bought that eight-seat airspeeder, he's going to have to trade it in for a airbus."

"I think he is trying to form his own smash ball team." Luke joked. "My sister is thrilled, though." He commented then turned back to enjoy the sunset. "I think Ben met a girl here," he said offhandedly.

Mara turned her head sharply. "I hope you're not saying he found a girlfriend at a family reunion!"

"Don't worry," Luke chuckled. "She's one of Tenal Ka's young aides. She's probably a year or two older than Ben, but he is smitten. He's been following her around like a baby pittin all day."

"Force help us," Mara said lightheartedly.

Luke scooted his chair closer to Mara's until the armrests were touching.

"I love you," he said softly as he leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you too Luke and couldn't imagine my life without you," she confessed as their lips parted.

"Grandma!" a young child called out as the pattering of small feet on the stone tile moved in Mara's direction. A small boy ran up and jumped on Mara's lap giving the former Emperor's Hand a big hug.

"How are you Darix?" Mara asked as she hugged her grandson.

"Good," the boy answered in a tired voice as he cuddled up closer to her. After a few moments he was asleep. Mara grinned at her husband. "I think it was too much excitement for him."

"He spent most of the day playing tag with his cousins."

Mara cradled the small boy on her lap and enjoyed the feeling of closeness with her grandson. Mara loved being a grandmother. It was something she never experienced in her former life. She cherished her time with her children and grandchildren. She looked forward to a day when she might be called Great-Grandma. That was probably a good two decades away, but one could hope.

"Mom, Dad, is Darix with you?" came a voice from the other side of the terrace. Mara turned to her daughter and put a finger to her lips indicating for her to be quiet.

"He's asleep," she whispered as she gently stood with the young boy in her arms and handed him over to his mother. "I think somebody needs a nap."

"Thanks Mom, I'll bring him to the room with the nanny droid," Jessa said smiling. "Are you two having a good time?"

"I couldn't be happier," Mara said truthfully.

Luke beamed at his daughter and grandson. "I totally agree. Are you and Davin going to stay the entire weekend or is he on the duty roster?"

"He's on leave, so we will be here for the entire weekend," Jessa said happily. She looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "I better get him to bed. I'll see you later tonight. Bye Mom, Dad."

"Bye," Luke and Mara said in unison.

Mara turned to her husband. "Come on Luke, we better get back to the party."

Luke stood up and took his wife's arm and led her back to the courtyard where two large white tents were set up on the grass. Under the tents were tables stacked with an assortment of finger foods and non-alcoholic drinks.

There was also an open bar where Mara could see Han standing with two drinks in his hands. Mara thought he was bringing a drink back to Leia, but she realized her mistake when he quickly chugged both drinks while standing there. He looked up and spotted Luke and Mara and gave them a wave and a wide grin.

"Maybe we shouldn't have volunteered to pay for the open bar," Mara said dryly.

Luke was about to say something when he suddenly turned toward a thicket of bushes near the side of the Villa. He reached over and tugged on Mara's sleeve.

"Quietly, follow me," Luke whispered with a grin as they moved over to the bushes and then peaked over the shrubbery. On the other side they could see their youngest son having a very quiet and intimate conversation with a pretty young girl wearing the formal garb of the Hapan Royal Court. Ben was whispering something to the girl making her giggle in delight. He looked down at his feet shyly for a moment, but then he looked into her eyes, leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Mara was startled when she heard her husband yell, "Eww, gross!" doing his best impersonation of his son.

Ben looked up in shock and then turned red with embarrassment. "Dad!" Ben yelled. He reached for the girl's hand. "Come on."

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker," the girl said happily as Ben gently pulled her away from his parents. "I guess we're leaving."

Luke laughed, but Mara frowned and smacked her husband on the shoulder. "Don't do that to the poor boy."

Luke gave her a look of innocence. "What? I'm only doing what he does to us every day."

Mara could only shake her head. Luke was probably right, maybe it was good that Ben got a taste of what he was dishing out daily.

"Hey Aunt Mara, Uncle Luke," came a voice behind her. Mara turned to face Jacen Solo. He was dressed smartly in a nicely cut suit with his lightsaber dangling on his leather belt. On each of his hands clung a child, his daughter Allana and his son Jase.

Mara always had mixed feelings about seeing Jacen. She had one set of memories where he remained the charming happy boy who told the silliest jokes and collected a mélange of pets, but she also had another darker set of memories where he turned to the darkside and killed her.

She knew it was completely unfair to the young man to think of him other than what he turned out in this timeline: A Jedi, husband, father and veterinarian who, according to Ben, castrates nexus for a living. That thought made her smile and she came forward to hug her nephew.

"It's good to see you Jacen. I'm glad Tenal Ka could break away from her royal duties to attend."

"I am to," Jacen said brightly, "I don't think it would have been possible if it wasn't for her governmental reforms. It's nice not having to watch your back all the time for an assassin."

"I can imagine," Mara said wryly.

"Well, I have to get the kids down for a nap," Jacen said with a smile.

"We'll see you at dinner," Luke commented cheerfully.

On the far side of the courtyard the band had began to play. Mara could see Han leading Leia up to the dance floor, followed by Jag and Jaina, then Anakin and Tahiri.

"Do you want to dance," Luke asked.

"Sure," Mara said as she offered him her arm.

They walked up to the dance area and Mara settled into his arms, swaying to the music and laying her head on his shoulder.

"This is the most perfect day," Luke whispered to Mara.

"No," Mara corrected him. "This is the most perfect lifetime."

~Fin~


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